How is it harder to dress a soon-to-be eight year old, then to make sure her dad doesn't suffocate in a too warm shower Ellie has no idea. Finally getting Cammie dressed is almost immediately followed by a sharp yip from the open doorway, a glance over her shoulder shows Delta setting Poppy carefully on the ground. The Gremlin as Ellie has taken to naming him, is young and spunky with the most dramatic personality she's ever seen. Brown eyes watch her in a way that makes her narrow her eyes, though her attention shifts away when a series of coughs fill the air.
Lifting a small cup filled with strawberry flavored children cough syrup she'd found in the master bathroom, she presses it to slightly chapped lips. Cammie makes a face but drinks it with a wince, cheeks flushed in a way that has Ellie reaching for a forehead thermometer next. "Well, dorogoy. You have a pretty high fever." She murmurs softly as she sets the thermometer down on a small wooden bedside table, free hand lifting to cover her little frame. Her ears catch the sound if running water still coming from down the hall, Delta whines as she rests her head atop the sheets.
"Can I have a story?" Comes Cammie's voice after a few moments, Ellie's hand soothing through her hair. Her voice sounds like her dads had, low and gravely only there's congestion mixed in as well.
"Of course, why don't you think of one while I go check on your dad." She gets a nod in response, when she stands from her kneeled position her knees creak slightly at the movement. Delta doesn't move and with a careful glance at The Gremlin, Ellie exits the room and moves towards the master bedroom not too far away.
The bathroom door opens just as she raises a hand to knock, head tipping back on her shoulders to find hazel eyes blinking down at her. Strawberry-blonde hair now rests freely and damp atop his head, face and neck bare of the soot that had decorated them. Lifting a hand towards the doorway she arches a brow at him, he snorts and gently shoves her to the side so he can pass. He walks slowly as if sore as he moves towards the bed, clicking her tongue she closes the bathtoom door before following him. She hands him Ibuprofen and a glass of water, his nose scrunches up when he realizes it isn't ice cold like he usually drinks it.
"Do I get a story? I know you're going to tell one to Cammie." Bryce quips as be sets the glass down, mohagony wooden bedside table a slight mess with a digital clock, a book and a framed photo of a family beach trip from years ago. The master bedroom is painted light gray with a tall black bookshelf and dresser along one wall, the other wall holds a artfully decorated and comfy looking reading nook and a plush rocking chair settled in the corner. Cammie's room is painted sky-blue with her own reading nook taking up one wall, the other holds a dresser and a play area where her toys are kept as well as a bookshelf.
"Answer your phone in two minutes." Is all she replies with, tugging on his hair just as he settles comfortably beneath his sheets. She's up and moving before Bryce can do more then grunt, steps silent on the wooden floor as she moves back down the hall. Delta lifts her head from the white carpeted floor where she's laid down, a white fluffball watches from the bed. "Dorogoy..." She chides as she moves further into the room, hands lifting to tighten the ponytail she'd used to tie her hair with.
"He jumped up here I swear." Cammie squeaks out with her hands holding a book out to her, Ellie hums and accepts the book without really taking in the cover. She settles in atop the sheet and is immediately being hugged tight, a too warm little body curling in close.
"You know...I've never read this in English." Ellie comments as let's her eyes roam the cover, free hand petting through silk-soft strawberry-blonde hair. It's the first Harry Potter book The Sorcerers Stone, cartoon-based image printed colorfully across the front. She knows the basics of the world and who Harry is, but Dimitri had been into the series more then she and Sofia had ever been. A little hand pats her thigh and she glances over to find blue eyes Watchung her, cheeks still red and little nose running.
"Really? Is it different in Russian?" Cammie asks with a sniffle, Ellie reaches for a tissue and hands it over before humming softly. The cover feels smooth under her fingers, back pressing into the pillow she'd placed behind her for comfort.
"My brother read the books, I never really stayed still enough to read anything." Ellie replied softly, lips lifting into a grin that Cammie can't see. Her phone buzzing has her shifting slightly to pull it free from her pants, she answers the call and presses Speaker before setting the device down. "Alright, shall we?" She chirps with a slight wiggle of excitement, fingers opening the cover and flipping to the first page. "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly
normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense..."
"Oh, yes." Ellie heard Bryce whisper through the speaker, Cammie giggled and and settled in even closer.
"Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere..."
Her eyes were focused on the page, voice quiet and words flowing easily. No doubt both would be drifting off to sleep soon, which would give her time to prepare a meal and do whatever chores Lydia hadn't managed to get to if any at all.
For now she'll settle in to learn just what had Dimitri to fascinated back when they were children, nose buried in pages with his chin resting on his knees.